Method of producing souvenir pocketpieces



w- 9 V c. BICKEL 2,130,058

METHOD OF PRO DUCING SOUVENIR POCKETPIEGE Filed June '7, 1937 Patented Sept. 13, 1938 UNITED STATES FATENT orrics METHOD OF PRODUCING. SOUVENIR POCKETPIECES 2 Claims.

My invention relates to a souvenir pocketpiece and method of producing same, and has for its principal object, the provision of a relatively simple practical and inexpensive pocketpiece or "5 token that is formed from coins composed wholly or partially from base metal; for instance, one cent pieces, or as they are generally termed pennies and from five cent pieces or nickels.

A further object of my invention is to provide a. souvenir, token or pocketpiece having the shape of a horseshoe which, by many persons, is considered a token of good luck, and the horseshoeshaped piece bearing on one face portions of the original imprint made by the die that is utilized in minting the coin, and the opposite face bearing characters or numerals that form words, dates, etc. for instance, the names of countries, cities, persons, and also the dates of national or world-wide gatherings, expositions and the like.

20 A further object of my invention is to provide a relatively simple and easily practiced method of converting coins, such as pennies and nickels, into horseshoe-shaped souvenirs, tokens or pocketpieces.

25 With the foregoing and other objects in View, my invention consists in certain novel features of construction and arrangements of parts that will be hereinafter more fully described and claimed and illustrated in the accompanying 30 drawing in which:

Fig. 1 is a plan View of a coin with the central portion thereof removed by a punch or otherwise, in accordance with the first step of my improved method.

35 Fig. 2 is a plan view of the ring-shaped member that is formed from a coin, and which member is split in order that it may be pressed into substantially horseshoe shape.

Fig. 3 is a front elevational view of the perfo- 40 rated coin after the same has been pressed into the shape of a horseshoe.

Fig. 4 is an elevational view of the reverse side of the piece, and showing letters and numerals impressed thereon.

4.5 Fig. 5 is a plan view of a modified form of the souvenir pocketpiece or token produced by my improved method.

Fig. 6 is a plan view of a further modified form of the pocketpiece or token.

50 Fig. 7 is a plan view of the form of pocketpiece or token illustrated in Fig. 6, and showing the cut portions bent to give the piece the general shape of a horseshoe.

In producing the souvenir, token or pocketpiece 55 in accordance with my method, the central portion of a coin, such as a penny or nickel, is removed by a punch or otherwise, thereby forming a circular opening It in the coin, and which opening is, substantially concentric with the edge of the coin. The succeeding step in the method is 6 to split the ring as designated by H, in order that the ring may be bent into horseshoe shape by the succeeding step in the method.

This succeeding or third step consists in spreading the ends of the ring adjacent the split ll 10 apart and partially straightening the same, sothat the piece is given the shape of a horseshoe, as illustrated in Fig. 3.

The fourth step in the method consists in impressing one face of the horseshoe-shaped piece so as to form words and dates, and in Fig. 4 I have illustrated the piece impressed with letters forming the words Los Angeles Worlds Fair and the numerals forming the date 1940. Obviously, any desired words, numerals and other characters may be impressed on the piece.

In utilizing pennies to form the souvenir or token, I prefer to punch and impress the same, so that the face bearing the words In God We Trust, Liberty and numerals forming the date appear on the front face of the finished souvenir or token, and the characters forming the Words, dates, etc., as illustrated in Fig. 4, appear on the reverse side of the finished piece. In converting 5 cent pieces or nickels into souvenirs or tokens in accordance with my improved method, I prefer to punch and impress the same so that the front faces bear the word Liberty and the dates that were formed by the die in minting the coins, and thus the characters impressed on the piece in accordance with my improved method appear on the reverse side of the piece.

The method of converting coins into souvenirs, pocketpieces or the like may be accomplished by, any suitable and conventional means, but in order 0 to save time, labor and consequent expense in practicing the method, I propose to construct a punch and die that will, in a succession of operations, one inunediately following the other, first punch out the central portion of the coin, then split the resultantring, then spread the ends of the ring apart to give the piece the horseshoe shape, and the final pressure of the punch against the die impressing characters on the reverse side of the piece.

In Fig. 5 I have illustrated a pocketpiece or token wherein the portion of the coin that is removed, is eccentric with respect to the circular edge of the coin and when the ends adjacent the slit are spread apart, it produces a horseshoeshaped piece having a relatively wide central portion and tapered end portions.

In Fig. 6 I have shown a modified construction wherein a semi-circular slit I00, is formed in the coin substantially parallel with the edge of the coin and with a radial slit I la extending from the center of the semi-circular slit to the edge of the coin.

Impressed on the face of the coin in a semicircular rib I2 which, together with the semi-circular slit I0a, defines a circular area I3 in the center of the coin.

When the portions outside of the slit Illa adjacent the radial slit Ila are spread apart, it

forms a substantially horseshoe-shaped piece, as illustrated in Fig. '7. Thus in this modified construction, no portion of the original coin is removed in the formation of the souvenir or token.

Souvenirs or tokens produced in accordance with my invention may be carried as lucky pocketpieces or by having small rings secured to the pieces, they may be used as watch charms, as bangles for bracelets or as pendents from necklaces. Where the pieces are produced at large gatherings, for instance, at international or world-fairs, said pieces may be impressed with suitable data, so as to constitute interesting souvenirs.

Thus it will be seen that I have provided a relatively simple and. easily practiced method for converting coins into souvenirs, pocketpieces, tokens and the like.

It will be understood that minor changes in the size, form and construction of the various parts of my improved souvenir pocketpiece and method of producing same, may be made and substituted for those herein shown and described without departing from the spirit of my invention, the scope of which is set forth in the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. The herein-described method of converting coins into souvenir pocketpieces and the like, which consists in forming an opening in the central portion of a coin, splitting the coin radially from its edge to the opening therein and then bending those portions of said member adjacent the split apart, to give the piece the shape of a horseshoe.

2. The hereindescribed method of converting a coin into a souvenir pocketpiece or the like which consists in cutting the coin along a line substantially parallel with the edge of the coin, then radially splitting the metal in the coin between its edge and the cut portion, and then bending those portions of the metal to the sides of the split outwardly so as to give the coin the general shape of a horseshoe.

CLARKE A. BICKEL. 

